Invoice sheet



March 2 1926. 1,575,395

V W.E.TORF$ INVOICE SHEET Filed August a, 1921 GAS AND ELEcTmc LlCwHT COMPANY I I i I i /6 1 DATE ggg' lme 1% Mn. AMOUNT ARREARS TOTAL wrm. JAN.5\52650|EEQ3I|50000 2650 ,3 2.65 3.00 5.65 5.65

I, I4 l7 6 7 6 9 /0 /2 l3 f v i NAME JOHN D05 */5 5 Annnzss NEWYORK.

on: #35, um: fi i uw- -w AMOUNT ARREARS TOTAL ggy My 52650 nzcawoooo 2650 2.65 3.00 5.65

y Y J f awe Pat-sided Mar, 2, 1926.

UNITED STATES rnrenrorric assess WALTER E. TORFS, or JERSEY orrY, NEW JEnsEY, Assienon TO un EEwoon TYPE- WRITER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, n. Y., A oonronarron on DELAWARE.

INVOICE Application filed August 6,

To all LC/LOI'IL it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVALTER E. Tours, a citizen of the United States, residing in Jersey City, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented certain.

new and useful improvements in Invoice Sheets, of which the following is a specification.

- This invention relates to work-sheets and a method of using them so that, when placed in a typewriting machine or a bookkeeping machine, one of them, a ledgersheet, may be posted, and another, a bill-blank or statement blank, made out at the same time, all of the entries being typed in thesame line.

According to the invention as herein disclosed, the ledger-sheet and bill or bill-blank areldesigned for the bookkeeping work of public utility companies, such as gas and electric companies. The bill is provided with a detachable portion which, according to the usual custom, is to be returned by the customer with a check or othermedium of payment in case no receipt is desired the bill itself being retained by the customer or debtor. If a receipt is desired, the whole bill is returned with the payment.

The bill is provided, near its lower edge, with a row of short columns extending from its left edge across the body portion thereof, the last column being on the detachable portion. The ledger-sheet is provided with columns corresponding in number and width with those on the bill, the outer columns being-spacedsubstantially equally from the side margins of the sheet. i

In carrying out the preferred method of operation, use may be made of an aligning plate provided with a leading-edge and right and left side edge gages. When the. ledgersheet is to be posted, it is inserted in the typewriting or bookkeeping machine, and squared with reference to the platen by means of the leading-edge gage and left sideedge gage. The usual feed-rolls, which are in cast-off position during insertion of the ledger-sheet, may be thrown into action and the ledger-sheet shifted into writing position, determined by the line on which the next entry is to be made.

The bill, with a carbon-sheet in position on its face, is then inserted back of the ledger-sheet and gaged by the right side-edge 1221. 7 serial 1 To.' l90,197.

gage and the leading-edge gage, the latter being so positioned that the carbon impressions on the bill will be made on the proper part thereof.

Appropriate entries may then be made by typing in columns headed Date, New reading, Date, Old reading, )onsumption, Amount, Arrears, Total. made on the ledger-sheet, and carbon impressions on the bill. The last column on the ledger-sheet is headed Amount paid. and

coincides with the column on the detachable portion of the bill, headed Total. viously, wiile the total should be entered in the column on the detachable portion of the bill, it should not be entered at the same time in the Amount paid column of the ledger-sheet until the bill has been paid.

When the bill and ledger-sheet are placed in a bookkeeping machine set up for this work, the numbers typed inv the columns headed Amount and Arrears will be added, and those written in the Total column will be subtracted out to clear a totalizer, a star being printed to indicate such clearing. One way of preventing print ing in the last column of the ledger-sheet and permitting carbon impressionsto be made on the corresponding columnon the bill consists in using a ribbon having an ink held and a non-ink field, the typing be ing effectedthroughthe ink iield until the last column is reached, the ribbon being.

carbon impressions being made. however, on

the bill in the same manner as an ink impression had been made on the ledgersheet.

Other features and advantages will here inafter appear.

In the drawing are'shown a bill-blank or bill, a ledger-sheet for use therewitlnand an aligning device with sideedge gages, the bill and the ledger-sheet being shown in proper position relatively to each other, to indicate the manner of positioning the bill-blank with reference to the ledger-sheet.

The bill-blank or statement'sheet comprises a body portion 1 and a detachable Ink impressions will be portion 2 at the right of the body portion and separated therefrom by a line 3, along which the material may be weakened in any suitable manner, as, for example, by perforating the material at regular intervals.

The body portion 1; has an upper or head ing portion a, in which appears the name of the company to whom the bill is payable, herein disclosed as the Gas and Electric Light Company. Below the heading portion is a central bla-nl'r portion 5 in which may be entered the name and address oi the debtor or customer, and at the lower edge of the body portion provision may be made of short columns 6-, 7, S, 9, 10, 11, 12, 18, beginning at the left of the body portion and extending to the right edge thereof, these columns being separated by suitable lines of division 14 and limited at the top and bottom by lines 15-, the division lines 14 extending upwardly beyond the up per line 15 to a line 16 spaced sufiiciently thereabove to permit headings for the Various columns to be written between the lastmentioned lines. The lines 15 and 1.6 are also extended across the line 3 a sufficient extent to provide a column 17 on the detachable portion 2. The respective headings for the columns 6', 7, 8, 9, 10, 11', 1-2, 13 and 17 are Date, New reading, Date, Old reading, Consumption, Amount, Arrears, Total, Total.

. The ledger-sheet 18 comprises an upper portion 19, in which may be placed the name and address of the customer or debtor, as, for example, John Doe, New York, and

a central portion 20'divided by lines 21 into columns corresponding innumber and width to the columns on the bill, the ledger-sheet 18 being, however, of suificien't width so that the outside lines 21 will be spaced at a substantial distance ironr the side edges. The columns on the ledger-sheet may be limited at their tops and bottoms, respec tively, by lines 22 and 23, and the lines 21 may be extended above the lines 22 to a line 2st so as to provide proper compartments to receive the headings which, in this case, are Date, New reading, Date, Old reading, Consumption, Amount, Arrears, Total, Amount paid; It will be seen that except for the last column on the ledger-sheet and the last column on the bill, the corresponding columns on both the ledger-sheet and bill have the same headings.

When a bill is to be made out, the ledgersheet 18 of the corresponding account is inserted into the bookkeeping machine in use, and squared with reference to the platen by means or" a leading-edge gage 25 and a left side-edge gage 26 on an aligning plate, not shown. The usual feed-rolls, not shown,- of

the machine are in cast-oii position durin the insertion of the ledger-sheet, and

be restored to eiiective position thereafter, the ledger-sheet then being moved by the platen to bring the proper line thereon to the printing line of the machine. it carbon-sheet, not shown, maythen be placed on the face of the bill, the carbon and bill thenbeing inserted between the ledger-sheet and the platen at the printing line and gagedby a right side-edge gage 27 and the leading-edge gage 25, the latter being so positioned with reference to the printing line that, when typing is efifected, the entries will be made in the proper position along the lower edge of the bill. being on the outside may easily be adjusted with reference to the printing line, but the adjustment of the bill is more diiiicult and consequently the leading-edge gage is positioned in accordance with the requirements of the bill, that is, to position the bill with the proper portion at the printing line. It

The ledger-sheet will be evident that the detachable portion 2 of the bill is of sufficient Width that, when gaged by the right side-edge gage 27, the columns on. the bill will coincide with those on the ledger-sheet. By an inspection of the drawing, it will be seen that the side edge gaging of the bill is effected entirely by the side-edge gage 27 and that the side gaging of the ledger-sheet is effected entirely by the left side-edgegage 26.

In connection with the typing of the on tries in the Amount and Arrears colurnns, computation will be effected in one or more totalizers, the total shown in the proper total izer being subtracted outwhen typed in the column headed Total. This will clear the corresponding totalizer and permit the printing of a clearance star adjacent the total. The same total is their to be printed in the column I? on the bill but not in the correspondingcolumn on the ledger sheet. This result may be attainedin various way, as, for example, by use in a credit balance machine, such as that shown in the patent to Kupetz, No; 1,356,072, granted October 19, 1 920,- of a ribbon having a blackink field in the same position as usual and a non-ink field in place of the usual redink field. When the carriage passes into the computing zone for the Total column, a suitably-shaped stopon the carriage may set themachine for subtraction, at the same time brea king the connection with the colorchanging mechanism, so that, although subtraction is effected, the typing will be in black, no shifting of the ribbon having taken place. The clearing of the proper register ,will thus be effected and a black star may to-bring the non-ink field to a position so 130 that typing will be effected therethrough. It will be evident that the striking of the types against the non-ink portion of the ribbon will produce no impression on the Amount paid column of the ledger-sheet, but that a carbon impression of the number typed will be made on the bill in exactly the same manner as if an ink impression had been made on the ledger-sheet. Upon completion of the entries along a single line, the bill and ledger-sheet may be withdrawn from the machine and a bill and ledger-sheet corresponding to another account inserted.

It will be seen that, by use of bills and ledger-sheets of the form shown, the bookkeeping may be effected conveniently by means of a credit balance machine, which may be set automatically to subtraction and to print in black in the Total column 13 of the bill and the corresponding Total column of the ledger and to produce a carbon impression of the total on the detachable portion of the bill without making any impression in the Amount paid column of the ledger-sheet. When the bill has been paid, the amount thereof may be typed in the Amount paid column of the ledger-sheet.

Variations may be resorted to Within the scope of the invention, and portions of the improvements may be used Without others.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 7

A set of blanks for use in bookkeeping and billing, comprising a ledger-sheet hav ing a series of columns marked thereon and a left filing margin, and a bill-blank having a series of spaces marked thereon ar-' ranged to coincide with the columns on the ledger-sheet when the ledger-sheet is superposed on the bill-blank and a detachable memorandum stub at the right extremity of the bill, the blanks being so arranged that the left filing margin of the ledger- .sheet will extend beyond the left edge of the bill-blank and the right margin of the detachable memorandum stub will extend beyond the right margin of the ledger- WALTER E. TORFS. 

